GODS of War 2: Spartan Reborn
by Gunsmith3000
Summary: Xander Harris gets more than a shiny new nickel after the events of the first fic in this miniseries entitled GODS of War: Ascension.
1. Chapter 1

God(s) of War 2: Spartan Reborn

By: Gunsmith3000

R.A.V.R.

Summary: Xander goes through some changes, finds some truth, meets new people, goes places, and starts screwing up some of the unhappy "Powers That Be" and their plans. Hears them cry "mommy". Oh yeah, he also gets a few weapons that scare the shit out of everyone. Generally, "almost" everything scripted after the Halloween episode flies out the window and gets rearranged Xander-style!

Disclaimers: I do not own anything except for the plot. All characters belong to their respective owners except some original characters, items, and mythologies created solely for this story.

/No Gods or Demigods were harmed in the making of this fan-fiction – at least not much, but I can't say about the demons though – they generally get their ass kicked all over the place/

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Previously on **God(s) of War: Ascension:**

The tale of Pandora's Box remains to this day. After the weapon was taken from the temple, the structure endured. Cronus, the Titan, lived for another thousand years wandering the desert floor, but that was long ago. The temple has grown silent, and the beast who wore it for so long, has died – relics of a world long past into the sands of antiquity.

But all myths may not be for the ancient times. Soon, a band of explorers will someday make their way inside the giant, forgotten structure, and find that the dangers, and many of its secrets, still remain.

And as with all greatness, a new hero will emerge to brave the dangers within, and claim that which has long waited for its master to wield.

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**Present day: **

Out in the desert, a few hundred miles beyond the walls of where ancient Greece once stood, a joint military exercise open to the public led by the United States were practicing a series of international war games. It's goal is to conduct an experiment of how well the weather guidance systems would fare in desert conditions - for commercial, and military use. In this case, two newly state of the art Apache helicopters were outfitted with the new systems and currently flying across the sands, constantly testing themselves against the sudden sandstorms that habitually littered the particular region. And with them, David Jaffe, a top-notch reporter with his news crew was along for the ride on separate helicopters.

"Damn," David said over the pick-up from behind the pilot. "I can hardly see out there. Are you sure the new guidance systems are working fine?"

"It's working fine, Mr. Jaffe." Replied Lt. Joan Andersen, keeping an eye outside the canopy while glancing at the digital readouts on her console. Then her eyes narrowed as she saw a spike in the screen showing that showed an alarming build up of what appeared to be a localized tornado heading straight for them. "Ah shit!"

"Shit!" The reporter shrieked, "Don't give me that shit, I don't do shit! What the hell is happening out there."

"I don't know sir," She responded, her voice tight as she concentrated on getting them through the ordeal in one piece. "Hang on!"

After radioing her chase 'copter, she felt the first wave of airborne sand slam into the helicopter as she struggled to fly over the sandstorm. With no visibility and the rotors whining in protest as she coaxed whatever power they had, she gritted her teeth as struggled with the yoke. Nature and machine battled for dominance for at least ten minutes; then just as suddenly as the spike in her readouts appeared, it vanished.

The chilling calm that followed made them all uneasy as the sands started to fade and die down. All of a sudden, proximity alarms from the guidance systems blared out a warning, signifying they were too close to an object larger than the craft itself. Trying to get a clear view from the sand blasted canopy, Andersen slowed the Apache to a hover, letting the rotors help in blowing the excess sand off to allow better visibility. When they could see, they saw that they were a few meters off from smashing into the base of a mountain – but that wasn't what shocked them silent.

Instead of the natural uneven slope that all mountains had at their base, they saw an exposed skull larger than a four-story building buried halfway in the desert floor. And further down, skeletal remains of a titanic hand that could have easily swiped the advanced machine out of the air.

And on top of the mountain, uncovered from the sands for the first time in thousands of years, lay an ancient temple.

Meanwhile, back in Sunnydale, Xander finally awoke from his three-day mystically enhanced sleep.

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**Prologue:**

_**Eleven hours after the discovery, the US military sent a reconnaissance team inside the giant structure after spotting the shadow of an opening from an NRO satellite currently above the area. They were transmitting audiovisual communications from inside the superstructure of their foray into the temple for two hours until they were never heard from again.**_

_**Their last comm chatter was recorded as follows:**_

"**_Oh god, they're every where. What are these things?" (Frantic gunfire erupts in the background showing only shadows, then the camera failed as the joint chiefs hear the screams of the rest of the recon team with the last recorded sound was of several grenades going off.)_**

_**They were able to squelch the news about the team's disappearance from the media, but it was too late for them to hide the news of the discovery of the temple. The joint chiefs each shared a look of worried frustration after watching the recon team's last message.**_

"**_Get me General Hammond!" The Big Man said as he reached out and spoke into the red phone connecting to Cheyenne Mountain._**

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(opening credits and cue music: "Navras"—end theme music from Matrix: Revolutions with flashbacks of God Of War video game montage mixed with scenes from GOW: Ascension)

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**And now:**

Giles awoke from the floor with a start, wondering why he was on the floor and not on his bed. Remembering what had transpired last night and who visited them, he quickly glanced at the couch where his young charge lay.

Only to find it vacant!

"Xander!" Giles's voice rasped in alarm, scrambling to his feet to begin his search for the young teen, only to stop as he heard a noise coming from the kitchen. Rummaging in a nearby weapons trunk, he extracted a one handed blunt mace and crept towards the sound. He peeked around the corner and his eyes widened at the sight before him.

Barely recognizable as the gangly young teen the Watcher knew, Giles saw a young boy transformed into a man. Gone was the slight youthful frame, in its place was a body packed full with pure muscles, there wasn't even a single ounce of fat anywhere. The childhood scars he knew the lad had when he was dressing his wounds the other night were gone. And gone, too, was the innocence and exuberance he knew Xander had in spades. But it looked as if the lad's over-active appetite remained the same.

"Hi, G-man!" Xander said, his voice held a deeper timbre than before, not bothering to look up from his actions of shoveling food into his mouth like a conveyor belt, while he reached for the switch to lower the volume on the small kitchen television. He knew exactly where the Watcher was even though he couldn't see him. "Have a seat, I fixed us some breakfast, and cleaned out your fridge in the process."

Giles almost groaned. "Why didn't the change also include his smart mouth?" he complained to himself and to whoever was listening. Seeing as how Xander cooked, he lay the mace by the counter and sat down to eat the breakfast, which looked suspiciously like a modern version of an early Grecian feast.

"Since when did you learn how to cook unleavened bread?" Giles asked, taking a portion of the large "loaf" and placing it on the plate provided.

"Mflrgh blkg phlm." Xander said, his mouth full. The young man reach for a glass of water, downed it, and then cleared his throat. "It's probably the leftover stuff from what happened last night."

"Xander," Giles began, "You've been unconscious for almost three days."

Xander stopped in mid-bite, suddenly losing his appetite at that bit of news. "Almost three days?" He looked up from his food to face the librarian, startling the man as he got a first look at Xander's eyes.

Instead of the warm chocolate brown, the young lad's eyes were now silver.

"Dear Lord!" Giles exclaimed, "Xander, have you seen your eyes?"

"What about them?" Xander asked, starting to get a little scared as he saw Giles's reaction.

"'Scuse me." He said, dashing for the bathroom to confirm whatever startled the man who he had come to think of as a surrogate father.

What he saw as gazed into the mirror made him back up in surprise. He knew that there would be some changes from the hint Athena had dropped. "The power of the gods now flow within your veins, young Alexander." Athena had told him, looks like the eyes and some of the physical changes on his new physique were the obvious ones that can be easily seen. He'd probably have to get contacts to hide his silvery-blue eyes, which at this point, if he squinted even just a little, he could see tendrils of lightning flash across the irises.

"Whoa!" He said, then he tried concentrating at the area around him and noticed that he could somewhat see beyond normal range of vision allotted for human. It looks as if he had perfect night vision, infra-vision, and if he tried hard enough he could make out shapes of things in the next room. He was pleasantly surprised to find out he could also see which ones where tainted with magic! A nice bonus, especially if you lived on top of a doorway to hell. At least he'd know which ones had some power and which ones had none, even if he didn't know for what.

He turned his gaze back towards the mirror and yelped to find that his eyes had turned into an opaque glow. The glow covered his entire eyes, the kind he found cool in one of his comic books! "Cool!" he said, thinking he'd also have to find some way to cover his eyes as they would give away his tactical advantage if he was ever sneaking up on somebody, they may be handy, but it'll be disadvantageous in sneaking around.

"Hm". He thought, a darkened diver's goggles or something like it would help mask the glow in battle unless he didn't need it. He could see fine with one on, and the contact lenses would definitely hide the now silvery-blue irises once the goggles came off.

Perfect! Once satisfied with his solutions for his eyes, he strode back to Giles's kitchen to finish his breakfast.

Giles watched him return and sit back down with a smile on his face, the silver eyes making the effect eerie rather than reassuring. "It'll be all right 'G," Xander said at the older man's inquiring gaze. "I'll have some contact lenses made up to help me hide them, and maybe some goggles to help hide it further when I go do any sneaky stuff."

"Anything else you want to add to that?" Giles asked, "Aside from being unconscious for the past few days, you were also surrounded by a golden glow as it made some changes to your physique"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Xander replied, going through memories that weren't eve his to begin with. "It probably has to do with the person I went as."

'I know a little about the ancient spartan who tried to earn his redemption by becoming the champion of the Greek deities." Giles cut in one Xander's explanation in his lecture voice, a hint of extreme curiosity coming from him. "It was believed that he acquired tremendous amount of power to finish his last task for the gods, to stop a rampaging god gone rogue that was destroying ancient Athens."

"That's true," Xander said, throwing a bone to the hungry-for-knowledge Watcher. "Kratos found and used Pandora's Box."

"Good God!" Giles exclaimed.

"My words exactly."

The sound of glasses being polished into oblivion echoed in the silence.

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Giles didn't know how much more he could handle if the shocks and revelations keep on coming. Pandora's Box, my God, someone had actually been able to find it and use it as a weapon? And that particular Spartan was able to succeed where others had failed? If what Xander had said was true, then the young man in front of him would probably be just as strong as the slayer at her highest level of strength, if not more than that if the supposed energies of the box also included godhood.

It also made sort of a logical sense that the box would be one of the weapons a mortal could wield against a divine. The Watcher's thoughts careened off on differing tangents as he tried to put into perspective the true implications of what had happened to the young man before him. He knew from personal experience that power left unchecked had the tendency to be abused and/or corrupt the user. He could only hope that Xander realizes that glaring fact.

As if reading his mentor's thoughts, Xander stood and made his way towards his older friend. "I swear to you and to all that bear witness to this day that I will use what has been given to me for the protection of mankind." He swore, "I shall protect those that cannot protect themselves; the weak, the powerless, and those that seek no harm on their fellow beings – be they god, mortal, demon, or monster. And I shall do so in whatever aid I can provide."

Giles stared, such a vow would not go unheard of. Short of a written confirmation, Xander had basically stepped up to the proverbial plate and announced that he would be a champion of light of his own free will. Giles could only nod in silence, a mute witness to the young man's vow. The Watcher almost did a double take as he saw two ghostly figures, one of whom he was certain was the Archangel Michael nodding their heads as they too bore witness to the young man's pledge before they faded into nothingness from behind Xander.

"Good Lord." Giles could only say.

Then Xander began telling the Watcher what he remembered of his mystically induced coma, minus the part when Kratos had attained godhood and the end of Ares. The young warrior had suspicions that Kratos's ascension into a god was kept a secret. That a mortal can kill a god was something no deity ever wanted advertised. Even today, as far as he knew, the only recorded Greek god of war was still Ares.

Which begs the question: if Kratos is now a god, what did he –Xander- become? And furthermore, that Buffy and the rest must never find out the truth of all of his new abilities.

Well, at least not yet.

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Rupert Giles felt emotionally worn out by the time Xander finished telling his tale. Xander, it appears, now carried the memories of a condemned hero who sacrificed himself to foil a war god's attempt to destroy Athens. The nightmares that Kratos carried with him on his route to redemption could very well leave the young lad in a state of permanent post-traumatic stress syndrome. But so far, Xander did not exhibit any signs of instability as of yet. As a matter of fact, the young man was as lucid as he had ever been. He reached for the remote to switch to a news channel to see if anything in the world was amiss.

And by a fateful stroke of luck, the television blared, showing a taped commentary from a reporter showing what appeared to be a gigantic structure behind him.

"…a recent sandstorm has unearthed the archeological find of the millennia!" The reporter, named David Jaffe by the title blurb on the bottom, exclaimed over the gust of wind that habitually rose and fell around a familiar landscape intimately known only to a select few currently alive at this time.

"The hell?" Xander said, shocked to be able to recognize what was left of one of the inhabitants of the Desert of Lost Souls as it was today. Stunned to what it had chosen to reveal to the entire world.

"By all that is Holy!" Giles whispered in awe as the reporter moved aside to fully expose the huge structure behind him. What was left of the towering structure that housed Pandora's Box lay in ruins, yet still seeming to appear to stand just as proudly as it was long ago. The beast that carried it for so long, now lay beneath it, a dead shell of the mighty god it once was. The skeletal remains of the large skull of the first of the Titans lay exposed to the desert sun, revealed a man over a hundred times the size of a normal human. The final resting place of Cronus and the temple of Pandora lay for all to see.

A deep sadness welled within Xander as he gazed at what once was the herald of the golden age of its time. His reminisce drowned out the words coming out of the tube as he rummaged through memories not his. No matter what the old god did, the sight both disgusted and intrigued him. He wanted nothing more than to banish the sight of so noble a creature laid so low and intrigued at the very sight that seemed to call out to him. For a second, he thought he saw a minuscule glint of light coming from the temple, a light he could only see with one mode of his enhanced vision. That one which could detect magic not of this world.

"Giles." Xander said softly beside an awestruck librarian. "I need to get there. Fast."

"For Heaven's sake, why?" Giles said, managing to tear his gaze away from the screen to stare at the young man in confusion.

"I think Pandora's Box wasn't the only thing the Greek gods hid in there." Xander's voice deepened to almost mirror Kratos's.

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Somewhere, in an elegant English estate:

"Hillary, I need a travel pack prepped for my next foray out, please." The exotic looking woman said, depressing the intercom stud to end the call as she thoughtfully studied the frozen image of the ancient structure shown repeatedly all over the world on her large screen monitor.

"Call Randall Clairebourne." she said to thin air, knowing that the electronic pickups would detect that as a command and turn the large monitor in front of her into a video-communications device. It was time to chat up England's premier Greek mythologist.

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TBC...

A/N: This is gonna be the first installment of GOW2: Spartan Reborn... but updates won't be as fast as I would like it to be, seeing as I am currently without my own pc. So please be patient. By the way, check out the first part of this "series" that introduces Xander and company to the "God of War" 'verse that's mixed up with a lot of others.

Full disclosure of all the crossovers will be at the end of GOW2 (if I do finish it on time), though I know most of you will recognize most of them as they come into the picture.

Please read and review to let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

**God(s) of War: Spartan Reborn**

By: Gunsmith3000

R.A.V.R.

Summary: Xander goes through some changes, finds some truth, meets new people, goes places, and starts screwing up some of the unhappy "Powers That Be" and their plans. Hears them cry "mommy". Oh yeah, he also gets a few weapons that scare the shit out of everyone. Generally, "almost" everything scripted after the Halloween episode flies out the window and gets rearranged Xander-style!

Disclaimers: I do not own anything except for the plot. All characters belong to their respective owners except some original characters, items, and mythologies created solely for this story.

/No Gods or Demigods were harmed in the making of this fan-fiction – at least not much, but I can't say about the demons though – they generally get their ass kicked all over the place/

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**Previously:**

"_Giles." Xander said softly beside an awestruck librarian. "I need to get there. Fast."_

"_For Heaven's sake, why?" Giles said, managing to tear his gaze away from the screen to stare at the young man in confusion._

"_I think Pandora's Box wasn't the only thing the Greek gods hid in there." Xander's voice deepened to almost mirror Kratos's. _

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**And now...**

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"It'll take at least a few days at best for me to be able to reach one of my contacts outside of the council to help you with that." Giles said thinking furiously, dredging up names to uncollected favors owed him that would help them. "Xander, even if you go, be aware that others may be planning the same thing you are. The council no doubt would also send some of their "extraction" teams to check for anything of power inside."

"Trust me, G." Xander snorted, "There's lots still inside the thing. Palos Verdes III, the nutzoid architect of that damned thing, did more than just design the place to house Pandora's Box. And though the box is the main prize there, the Greek Pantheon of gods also used the place to house other, more obscure, and equally powerful stuff in it."

"Amazing." Giles said, reaching up to take his glasses down and give it a thorough cleaning. "I'll see what I can do, just give me a couple of days while you prepare."

Thanks, G." Xander smiled, heading for the weapons cache Giles always kept on hand inside his home and rooted inside the cache. Within, he was able to find two matching short swords and a twin sheath that complimented it. The sheath, he strapped to his back, sliding the swords into it after testing both of them for weight and balance. He nodded silently to himself, they almost felt right. Then he felt and met the inquiring gaze from the Watcher. "I'm going to work some stuff out for the rest of the day, and the blades on my back are for tonight when I hunt."

"Hunt?" Giles asked, slightly perturbed by Xander's actions.

"Yeah, hunt." Xander explained; a grin reminiscent of his former hyena persona raking his face. "I wanna see how well I go up against the nightlife this time around."

"Oh dear," Giles smirked, suggesting the same thing the young warrior was thinking. "I do believe they'll never see you coming if you hide your luminous eyes."

"Yep." Snatching up the blanket the Watcher used to keep him warm, he bundled up the weapons and headed out.

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After safely hiding the weapons in his room, he checked his secret savings that he was supposed to use for his fabled road-trip. Taking a huge bite out of his savings, he left the house and went to a Lenscrafters store inside the mall with an optometrist present that knew how to keep their mouths shut and ordered at least four pairs of colored contact lenses. Next, he went to some sporting goods stores to look for the perfect goggles that could hide his eyes and not be knocked loose like the sunglasses he currently wore to keep people from staring at him. He finally settled for some dark swimmer's goggles that were a comfortable fit and bought at least four pairs just in case. And while there, he also perused some of the guns displayed, wishing he could at least pack one or two rifles and that nice looking colt .45. Unfortunately, travelling halfway across the other side of the planet made for some strict customs laws to bypass. He'd be better off doing an on-site-procurement or OSP of weapons when he was there. And the short swords could be easily hidden in plain sight if one of Giles's infamous contacts come through.

Besides, the temple should have enough weapons he could use inside left over from foolish and unlucky explorers who ventured within over the eons. He noticed that the sun was beginning to set, so he finished up with the rest of his purchases and headed home to gear up for the night.

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Gearing for Xander up consisted of a dark sleeveless shirt with a layer of similarly sleeveless chainmail over it. Functional, heavy arm bracers adorned his forearms that reached from the back of his hands and moved upwards almost to the elbow. Tight kevlar pants that looked like the lower half of an expensive all-black wet suit. Knee-high all weather riding boots, and the dark swimmer's goggles he adorned above his temple. The goggles were ready to drop it in front of his eyes in a moment's notice. And at last came the weapons: he strapped the pair of short swords on to his back, hid two slim stakes in each boot, a pair of blessed silver daggers that went one each for the arm bracers. And finally: the gun that went into a back holster.

The illegal, mystically silenced Desert Eagle did not come from the mall, but from one of the shadier sides of Sunnydale's warehouse district. That was what took the biggest chunk of his savings since he had to get it from someone who made sure any and all serial markings were taken off of the gun for his protection. The bullets were also devoid of markings as they were a custom job. And best of all, someone had enchanted it to become silenced at will by the one holding it. Bad thing that, he'd better look for a way to enchant it so he would be the only one to use it.

Standing in front of the mirror, Xander noticed he cut quite the bizarre figure. Almost an exact duplicate of Vin Diesel's character from an up-coming movie called "Pitch Black". – But with hair. He may have looked a little ridiculous, but when he took off the contacts and made his eyes glow, the young warrior's countenance became frightening. Then he lowered the tone of his voice down and he was soon unrecognizable as the goofy young man he once was.

He glanced at the wall clock, the deep timbre of the voice of his new persona seemed to echo as he said one word before leaving the room via the window.

"Showtime."

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As Xander crept along the graveyard following an unwitting slayer as he dispatched some of the vermin shadowing her, he decided to change his tactics and forego the cemetery route. He'd been lucky thus far in silently dispatching three vampires and something between a rhino with a lot more horns without alerting Buffy in her rounds. Seeing as she was packing it in due to the lack of nightlife, he moved further away from her to begin his own hunt. He then went to one of the larger houses uptown where he got a tip that an entire family had supposedly disappeared a few months prior. The tip itself came from the gunrunner who sold him the Desert Eagle when Xander had asked where he acquired the weapon. Everybody had assumed that they left town over the weekend and sublet it to someone.

As Xander neared the estate he could see lights from within, he began scouting the perimeter just in case there were more than the run of the mill vampires inside. After taking care of the vampire guards littering the grounds, he went to the side of the house with larger than normal windows and peered in, and blinked. A muffled groan halfway emerged from him.

He hated being right.

Aside from the assorted vampires found within a typical "lair", he also saw some of the same type of rhino-like demon he had dispatched earlier. The presumed master vampire was asking the ones they had sent out earlier that evening to take care of the slayer, and after hearing a negative from the rhino demon that seemed to be in charge of his kind, the vamp reached out and snapped the thing's thick neck. For some odd reason, he could hear them quite clearly even with the windows shut.

"I do not tolerate incompetence!" The male vampire roared, "I need the slayer out of business before our operation can fully begin."

"Sir," one of the rhino demons began. "I do not think the slayer was the one who destroyed the assassins that followed her. A few of the men who held back and watched saw a dark figure in chainmail carrying two short swords attack the advance team from behind."

Outside, Xander stiffened in alarm, he silently cursed himself for not noticing that. Not many demons tend to think strategically, and the fact that these did bumped his personal threat assessment meter higher. He'd have to keep a tighter watch on these guys from now on, and the fact that he had made a rookie mistake like that grated on him. Something's coming down and he had to find out what. But what they said next threw that plan out the window.

"So a new player has entered the battlefield." The unknown master vampire said. "That won't do at all, it will upset the timetable. Destroy the slayer and her family immediately before the sun rises."

"At once!" was the resounding chorus.

"Shit!" Xander cursed once more, realizing that they had to go, for good. Hell, so much for keeping an eye on them for future references. Gathering his strength as he unsheathed his short swords, he took a few paces backwards and did a running jump full tilt towards the window.

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The resounding crash surprised them all as a lithe, but muscular figure entered the room in an explosion of glass with both of his swords drawn at the ready.

Everybody froze.

"Knock, knock." Xander said slowly, rising up from the kneeling position he landed in.

"Kill him!" The leader screamed.

They attacked Xander en masse.

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Someone once said that blinking one's eyes would make you miss a lot of things. Whoever said it was right, in less than ten eye blinks for a normal human, at least a little over fifty assorted vampires and demons were permanently dead, dying, or on their way to doing so.

/Blink/ Xander swung his swords in a sweeping arc as he danced an unplanned dervish, whirling his body every way at once.

/Blink/ Heads, arms, torso, and legs were no strangers to Xander's deadly dance of death. He simply wasn't where they wanted him to be.

/Blink/ Once the blades started to dull, he dropped them and went hand to hand. His newly acquired phenomenal strength was enough to rip them limb from limb in a matter of seconds.

/Blink/ The fight itself was short, but as brutal as they come as body parts nearly indistinguishable from their owners flew in every direction inside the room. Different colors of blood turned the once elegant room into a slaughterhouse.

/Blink/ The master vampire had no chance to run as he found himself being the last person alive as the deadly young man held him aloft by the neck with only one hand.

As to the cause of why he couldn't escape, the way Xander was flaying the rhino-like demon body parts up seemed to land and block almost all places of egress from the room save one. And that was through the young warrior himself.

Xander wasn't even wounded or breathing too hard after single-handedly executing over fifty demons in less then four minutes. That being said, he still felt a bit woozy since it looked to him as if time stood still for a few seconds and simply sped up after he did as much damage as he could. Shaking his head, he started for the ringleader of this mess.

"Who are you?" the master vampire wheezed, voice full of loathing, masking the fear clamoring from within.

"I am no one," Xander replied, his voice tinged with menace, and a little irony. Didn't Kratos say the same thing when he introduced himself to Willow the night before? "I am but a humble Spartan. Now who are you?"

"Carlos St. Julian." All hint of bravado gone as the vampire shivered in palpable terror. The vampire most of the underworld had known as the Damned Undead Saint, second only to Angelus in his campaigns for slaughter, now quavered in mortal fear at the being holding him up without even tiring. "What do you want?"

"I want to know the reason why you're here, all of it. And if you lie, you better hope for a quick and painless death for you will find no mercy from me."

So as the tale from the vampire grew, so did the screams afterwards for each piece of news that angered the emerging warrior.

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TBC...

A/N:

I'm sorry that this is kinda short, but I am uploading this via the library, and their network connection is so annoying that it makes me want to hurl their damned PC out the window. I would have made it longer save that there are some issues with the rest of it that I didn't like. So its back to the drawing board for me till next weekend.

As usual, please read and review to let me know what you think


	3. Chapter 3

**God(s) of War: Spartan Reborn**

By: Gunsmith3000

R.A.V.R.

Summary: Xander goes through some changes, finds some truth, meets new people, goes places, and starts screwing up some of the unhappy "Powers That Be" and their plans. Hears them cry "mommy". Oh yeah, he also gets a few weapons that scare the shit out of everyone. Generally, "almost" everything scripted after the Halloween episode flies out the window and gets rearranged Xander-style!

Disclaimers: I do not own anything except for the plot. All characters belong to their respective owners except some original characters, items, and mythologies created solely for this story.

/No Gods or Demigods were harmed in the making of this fan-fiction – at least not much, but I can't say about the demons though – they generally get their ass kicked all over the place/

-- and I also fixed a small mix-up I noticed in the last chapter...

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_**Previously:**_

_Xander wasn't even wounded or breathing too hard after single-handedly executing over fifty demons in less then four minutes. That being said, he still felt a bit woozy since it looked to him as if time stood still for a few seconds and simply sped up after he did as much damage as he could. Shaking his head, he started on the ringleader of this mess._

"Who are you?" the master vampire wheezed, voice full of loathing, masking the fear clamoring from within.

"I am no one," Xander replied, his voice tinged with menace, and a little irony. Didn't Kratos say the same thing when he introduced himself to Willow the night before? "I am but a humble Spartan. Now who are you?"

"_Carlos St. Julian." All hint of bravado gone as the vampire shivered in palpable terror. The vampire most of the underworld had known as the Damned Undead Saint, second only to Angelus in his campaigns for slaughter, now quavered in mortal fear at the being holding him up without even tiring. "What do you want?"_

"I want to know the reason why you're here, all of it. And if you lie, you better hope for a quick and painless death for you will find no mercy from me."

So as the tale from the vampire grew, so did the screams afterwards for each piece of news that angered the emerging warrior.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

_**And now...**_

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The moment the vampire had finished all he had needed to say, Xander gave him the mercy blow – ripping his head clean off the shoulders like a cheap toy doll, dusting it instantly. The young man hated to torture the vamp but there was no other way and time was of the essence. Swallowing heavily from emotional exertion, he sheathed the dulled swords and he cleared the already decomposing bodies blocking the exit and moved freely inside the deserted mansion to check for stragglers. In the heat of the battle, he cleanly forgot to put the mystically silenced Desert Eagle he brought with him to good use. So it was a surprise to him when he felt the gun as he shouldered the sheathed swords behind his back. And that was another error in a growing list of things he needs to rectify. Having the knowledge and knowing when to use it is a different story altogether. He would have to train himself in using all the skills and abilities he had at his disposal. He just couldn't afford to make too many mistakes.

It took awhile, but he found no more signs of anyone lurking about – and if they were, they had probably been long gone after hearing the sounds of violence coming from inside the huge parlor he came from. As bad as these can get, he was quite surprised at how clean the place looked. For a bunch of demonic bad guys, he thought, they're fastidious. The mansion had been taken cared of well enough for anyone to simply move in, and once he checked the basement, he found piles of "trinkets" Carlos St. Julian might have collected over the centuries. If he ever decided to give up fighting the good fight, the proceeds from these valuables alone would let him live a life of absolute comfort.

That thought made him smile so wide it almost cut his face in half. While he may not want to quit the fight, he could make use of the entire estate, as it was now his by rights under the term "spoils of war". And since the day after tomorrow was a weekend, he could come back by daylight and clean the place up, and if luck still stayed with him, he'd be able to find the deed to this place after a thorough search on the weekend.

"Perfect." He said in glee. At least now he could move out of the hellhole he lived in for so long since his parents neglected and abused him. Using an ancient techniques for claiming a home – another memory experienced by Kratos in his many travels outside of ancient Greece -- Xander pricked himself and spilt a few drops of his own blood around the area and within the confines of the house itself – effectively making it his. He would have to find a way of making it his legally later as well as completely warding it from most of the demons that haunt the town.

With his task finished for the immediate area, he headed back out to finish the rest of his hunt. And according to what that fool vampire said, he had enough time to finish exterminating the rest of his so-called "minions" out in the field before heading back home. Passing by the hall leading to the main house door, he spied a large battleaxe hanging on the wall. It looked functional judging by it simple, yet elegant design and heft.

Just perfect for what he was about to do.

Besides, a demonic mafia setting up shop in Sunnydale is NEVER a good thing. Heads were literally going to roll tonight, he thought. After a few seconds, he winced at his own pun.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

They never saw it coming. The first sign they noticed that they were in trouble was that half of their forces were already killed. The guards at the front door and on the grounds were the first to go missing, but by then, it was too late to marshal a defense.

Xander was running an irregular pattern of carnage around the Demonic Mafia's only supposed supply base. The first thing he did was survey the area, making sure no innocent bystanders would be involved. Then he took out the roving guards and the spellcasting snipers that littered in hidden alcoves above. After dealing with them, he started working on the inhabitants. Making sure to try to take as much of them out by stealth as he took each one out from behind. Once the majority of them were eliminated, he had to forgo stalking them as the others took alarming notice of the huge gap in their ranks. Cutting a bloodier swath through their advances, he whirled the huge battleaxe with the skill of a seasoned veteran. The more he thought about it, the more he suspected that there was something a little "off" about the weapon he currently bore aloft. In spite of all the kills he was racking up, it had yet to dull and break. In fact, barely a drop of blood marred the pristine surface. And as he tuned out the sounds of panicked cries and curses, he could hear something whistle softly each time he swung the weapon; and only then did he realize it was coming from the axe. It clearly had to be an enchanted weapon. On that realization, he promised himself to look up the history of the axe – better to find out sooner than later if the thing's enchantment turns out to be a curse or a blessing.

Meanwhile, the demonic lieutenant, whose head almost resembled a shark, had bolted upstairs as soon as he saw the chaos before him. Making a mad dash towards a crystal orb, he tried to call for more reinforcements when the electricity in the warehouse was cut and all sounds of violence below ceased. The unearthly silence that hung in the air was deafening, and the last thing the demon saw were two silver points of light piercing the darkness before the sound of something whistling through the air coming towards him and cleaved his head from his body.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

And in a remote location, someone watching over the proceedings via the hidden infrared camera placed inside the warehouse. The person watching was currently glaring at the dark figure on monitor as he found and used some of the explosives littering the vicinity to finish the job. But not before making sure anything of value was taken along with him.

Mute with anger, the figure hurled a long and rectangular object towards the far wall that the force of impact actually left it embedded on the hardened oak panel adorning it.

The only clear writing on the object visible under the moonlight was the word "Wilkins" written in gold, as an explosion was heard in the distance.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Xander watched the building burn, knowing that no one – not even the police or the fire department would dare come out to this area at this time of the night. He sighed in disgust, and started making his way home, knowing full well that tomorrow's headlines would explain all of his work as a "gas leak".

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Thoroughly worn out by the night's activities, Xander had re-entered back into his room just as the sun was peeking out over the horizon. He was having second and third thoughts about going to his classes for the coming day. There was no way he could currently explain his sudden muscular physique and growth spurt, as it was, all of his loose and baggy clothes were now a tight fit. He found out the hard way, after showering and changing. So when he tried to move out of the room, he heard a mighty rip from both the shirt and tight jeans he wore.

"Sheesh," Groaning, he mourned the loss of his favorite Hawaiian shirt, staring at his appearance in the mirror. "Now I look a cross between the hulk and Bruce Banner in mid-transformation." In his haste to get some "hunting" gear yesterday, he had forgotten to buy himself some new clothes to fit his new physique, another oversight that embarrassed the hell out of him.

Shaking his head, the only solution lay with his father's clothes as they look like they might fit. After all, you can't hide a beer belly and other flab without going through a few shirt size changes. Taking an oversized bathrobe, he tiptoed to his parents' room knowing that they were downstairs either passed out on the couch or floor.

Sure enough, the smell of liquor wafted itself upward from the stairs, confirming the young man's thoughts about his parent's after dinner drinking binge. With a sad sigh, he entered their room and began rummaging inside the closet, found the right set of clean clothes, then left for school to hide out in the library to talk to Giles.

Even with the new changes in his life, some things still remained depressingly the same.

"But not for long." He swore to himself, tired of his own self-pity. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

The only twisted consolation he could derive from that small comfort was that the real Greek Pantheon of gods were even more dysfunctional than his own family..

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Rupert Giles had a busy day yesterday; no doubt today will be one as well. He'd been contacting anyone and everyone he could think of near that part of the world who could help him help Xander get to the most talked-about archeological find in existence. Problem is, everyone he knew also wanted to go there. Then he remembered his niece over in the outskirts of London. She would undoubtedly be going there as well due to the fact it was her vocation of choice. Desperate, he dialed her number.

"Hello?" Giles said once the other line was picked up. "This is Rupert Giles, is she…?"

"Ah," he said after hearing a negative on the other end as the person immediately recognized the significance of Giles's call. "She's heard about the find in the desert then? How long ago did she leave? That was fast."

"Oh dear," Giles said, a frown creeping into his face and voice. "I see, thank you very much. No. No. Call her at your own leisure, this was nothing urgent." He bit his lower lip as he lied.

"Yes, Hilary, it's all right. I just wanted her to know if she heard tell about the new find in the desert that's all. Same to you, old chap. Give her my best regards once she returns. Goodbye." And then he hung up, thinking of other ways to solve this new dilemma. The only other person he knew might also want to collect on that favor Giles owed as well as allow him to help.

"What's up, G?"

"CHRIST!" Giles yelped, jumping about a foot off the ground as he whirled around to face the voice speaking from behind him, only to find Xander trying to hold back his laughter – and failing.

"Now that you're satisfied for startling an elderly gentleman," Giles began; then roared right into his laughing face**. "JUST WHAT THE BLEEDIN' HELL DID YA DO THAT FOR YA RETARDED WANKER!"**

Xander felt like he'd been blasted by a wind tunnel of noise, the sound of Giles's outraged roar rolling over him in waves.

"Come again?" He smirked, unabashedly making a show of cleaning both of his ears each with the middle finger of both hands.

Giles had to literally stop himself from strangling the mystically endowed teenager as his hands were already in the classic pose of strangulating air.

"Why me?" The watcher bemoaned his fate as Xander actually laughed. Trying to sober up, he just chuckled.

Once Xander got himself under control, he coughed and asked. "Any luck in finding me a way to the desert?"

"No, I haven't as of yet." Giles said, a frown marring his features once more. "Everyone I know seems to want to head in the direction had already left hours ago. There is one last contact I haven't called yet, but he might ask a favor for a favor."

"Is this contact reliable?" Xander asked curiously, a bit of his old sense of humor edging his next words. "I just don't want to deal with absolute whackos y'know?"

"And you aren't one yourself?" Giles smirked, eyes glinting in revenge.

"Touché."

"The man I'm talking about is a retired Admiral from your own US Navy." Giles began, rubbing the bridge of his nose in thought, lost in reminisce. "We've helped each other from time to time; he can be trusted with secrets such as these."

"Name?" Xander prodded gently.

"Admiral James Sandecker." Giles said, "As of last we talked, he heads the National Underwater and Marine Agency. If anything else, he is the only other person aside from my niece, and the others who weren't available, can get you in that area fast and quiet."

"Call him up," Xander nodded, "Let's see what his counter-favor will be. And if I can do it, it's a deal. If not, I may have other means of getting there, but it's going to be a long shot."

"All right." Giles reached for the phone and stopped, looking back at Xander in curiosity "And what long shot would that be, if I may boldly ask?"

"I might have to sneak into the Sunnydale Museum and try to talk to a statue for that."

"I beg your pardon?" Giles asked, not sure if he heard him right on that.

"Athena." Was all Xander said by way of explanation, remembering how she appeared with her presence in them, the look Giles gave him made him shrug; he already told him it was a long shot. The disappearance of Grecian mythological faith made for poor communication down the centuries. Then he recounted to the Watcher of his activities the night before, telling him to keep a closer eye on his slayer just in case someone else tries to set up another demonic mafia, and then left to talk to his own "contact".

Rupert Giles blinked, once, twice at the young man's quick departure, and then began dialing the phone. The watcher's respect for the young lad was growing in leaps and bounds. He was, however, worried. Xander could easily abuse his growing powers. And only time will tell if the memories of the ancient Spartan he carried with him will either drive him mad or simply turn the young man into an emotionless killing machine. Only in the Hellmouth, he thought. But then again, the mage in hiding formerly known as "Ripper" had seen stranger things.

"One hurdle at a time, old man," Giles told himself, "Or you'll go stark-raving mad."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

_**National Underwater and Marine Agency Headquarters**_

_**Washington, D.C.**_

Though "retired" from the Naval Military, the man who founded the National Underwater and Marine Agency looked young even for his age. Sitting behind his desk at the NUMA headquarters, Admiral James Sandecker pored over the latest reports from the shenanigans that happened over the Sahara desert from a few months back. The trail of destruction Yves Massarde and General Kazim left in their wake of graft and corruption will take years to unravel and put right. And if finding the final resting place of Australian aviator Kitty Mannock and the Confederate US Ironclad _Texas_ wasn't enough, now the desert seemed to spit out yet another mystery at the whole world. For how long that giant superstructure was hidden amongst the sands was inconceivable, but there it was. It could have been the biggest hoax in history, but the facts were already glaring at them all. All evidence points to one fact. They weren't dreaming, and somehow, it wasn't raining cats and dogs yet.

The huge humanoid skeleton at its base was for real. The fossilized DNA samples sent back from the most renowned hot spot in the world right now was placed in front of him, along with the test results that were nothing short of astonishing. That somewhere in the very distant past, giants truly walked among us. The very fact of its discovery left what they had done a few months ago pale in comparison.

Sandecker was numb after he read and reread the report on his desk; the only two references of such a thing were in Greek mythology. One of them was of Atlas supposedly carrying the world on his shoulders; the other was an obscure myth of Cronus, the king of the Titans, punished by his son Zeus to carry a mountain with a temple on his back. The later myth matched with the evidence so far straight on. There was no doubt in his mind. And that very fact left him numb in shock.

Which was why it took him a moment to realize his desk phone was ringing. Snapping out of his stupor, he reached out a hand to answer it. "H-hello?" He said, coughing aloud to clear it.

On the other end, Giles frowned; he never heard his old friend sound so distracted like this before. "James?" He said, "This is Rupert Giles. Did I call at a bad time?"

"Not really." Sandecker replied, regaining the cool and commanding demeanor he was famous for. "Been a while Rupert, how are you?"

"Can't complain." Giles said, chuckling at the return of his friend's assertiveness. "I called to collect a favor."

Admiral James Sandecker stiffened in his seat, eyes narrowing as he could guess as to why a mage of Rupert's caliber would be calling, and since he only knew of one mage personally in particular in this lifetime, the coincidence was just too perfect.

"Let me guess," the admiral said with irony. "It has something to do with that thing that was recently found in the most remote region of the Sahara desert a few days ago, am I right?"

"Correct." Giles affirmed.

"Talk to me, old friend."

"I," Rupert began, thinking of the things Xander had told him after the young man left to follow up on his own contacts. Long shot indeed, Giles thought to himself. Turning back to the conversation on the phone, he continued. "I have a - shall we say - protégé who wishes a reliable and discreet transport into that part of the world where your crew was a few months ago."

"What?" Sandecker wasn't sure if he heard him correctly, so Giles explained a little further, making his jaw sagging in incredulity. "Let me get this straight, this protégé of yours thinks he knows what's in this thing? And that he needs to go in there and get it to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands? And on top of all that, he needs to do it without the U.S. Government and everyone else for that matter ever knowing about it?"

"I see." The admiral sighed at Giles's affirmative, "I know I may be violating some national secrets here, but with your experience in matters like this, I may as well tell you that we were told that we already sort of "_lost"_ a military recon team twelve hours after infiltrating the structure. How sure is your protégé that he can safely traverse the interior of that thing?"

"Safely," Giles said in dark amusement, "Is a relative thing, my friend."

And then the Giles dropped the bomb he knew would make Sandecker's face widen in shock.

The next words that came out of the receiver made Admiral James Sandecker stand up and nearly drop the phone in astonishment. "He's been where?"

"You heard me, James." Giles affirmed, "He has sort of **_'visited'_** there long before the creature carrying it on its back died."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Xander halted in front of the steps of the Sunnydale Museum of Natural History, wondering for the fifth time if he really was going to do this. While what he was about to do hasn't been done for thousands of years, it was the preferred communications "port" the person he wanted to talk to regularly used in times too long past – at least to one of her former patron. Steeling himself, he released a sigh and walked inside, making a beeline for the Greek Exhibits in hopes of finding answers.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It wasn't all that hard to find the Greek exhibits, at least not with the foot high letters blazing across the entrance of the wing. Feeling slightly nervous since entering the museum, he approached one of the larger full figured statues of Athena. He stared at it, feeling like a retard as he began to speak to it.

"Hi, pardon me," he said, looking around the area to see if anyone was watching. "I don't know if you remember me, but I need some information."

For a few seconds, nothing happened, but as he started to turn and leave in embarrassment for thinking he could talk to a stupid statue, it started to glow in a familiar manner.

"Greetings, Dearest Brother Alexander," Athena said, as her presence filled the ancient statue. "It has been a very long time since I have been summoned to the earthly plane once more in this manner."

Xander arched an eyebrow at that, letting the "brother" comment slide for now. "And just how do you wish to appear anyhow? It's not as if Kratos remembered anything else but your statue."

The glow of the statue faded as he suddenly felt someone tapping his back. He let out a startled yelp as he spun around and saw Athena in the flesh standing before him. He clutched his chest, trying to calm down his rapidly beating heart. She was simply beautiful.

"Don't do that!" he glared at the laughing goddess, but his irritation was waning as he saw the goddess in the flesh for the first time. She really was just as beautiful as the statues depicted. Tall and regal in bearing, yet carrying a warrior's presence as well as the feminine beauty only a goddess can attain.

She blushed slightly at Xander's overtly forward gaze and spoke to him in a coquettish manner, "You didn't call me down here just to ogle me, Alexander. What do you wish to know?"

The young man's face reddened as he realized he was staring and coughed to try covering his obvious gaff. "Ah, sorry about that," He said to which she just waved it off with an accompanying giggle that made his face a little redder than is already was. "Anyway, I wanted to find out why Pandora's Temple been found after all this time. Wasn't it supposed to stay hidden even after the Titan's death?"

Athena frowned as she digested the inquiry, lost in deep thought. Then her eyes brightened as she remembered a few more things abut the temple that even Kratos was not privy to the first time he set foot inside in his quest for the Box.

"Oh," She said, "There are a few things I know of that were locked inside the temple for safekeeping. However, they can't be simply wielded by mere mortals. No matter how enhanced they have become. And that includes the Slayer line. They all could try, but it would end badly."

"Just how bad?" Xander said through clenched teeth, some of those weapons might have been a big help in their war against the darkness. Blame the gods, he thought, to be selfish enough to restrict their use. But then again, he understood why. In the wrong hands, whatever lay in there would also be just as much of a hindrance against them as well as help.

Athena pantomimed an explosion, silently mouthing the words "boom", in an exaggerated manner.

"That bad, huh?" He sighed, suddenly wary of the narrowing of her eyes. While it's true he hadn't known the goddess long, but the universal language of a woman narrowing her eyes in consternation is generally not a good thing. "Tell me then, just what the hell is going on that the temple had to be unearthed after all these eons buried in the sands? And why in the bloody Sahara desert of all places?"

"Let me answer your questions from the last to the first." She said, talking to him as if he were the child he once was. "The Sahara was the logical place for Cronus's final resting place because not many dare brave the dangers of it shifting sands. Aptly named as part of the Desert of Lost Souls, aside from swallowing a civilization, it can also swallow and vanish Cronus, temple, and all."

"But I thought the desert was just a few miles outside of Greece." Xander thought aloud, remembering how he, in Kratos's own point of view, that it was only barely a few days' journey to the cursed structure if you really know where to go.

"Because, Alexander." the ancient goddess replied. "You and Kratos were the only ones truly meant to find it, brave its defenses, and come out slightly unscathed - no one else. And as for how it came to be exposed so soon, we have deduced that someone hidden from us has interfered."

"Who?" Xander asked, sifting through his altered memories again for a clue. "These so-called Powers That Be?"

"No, Alexander." Athena replied, "Not even they are that foolish enough to go against the creator in that regard. Furthermore, the Powers do not wish the temple to be revealed at all, which was why they were there with us at the time, to oversee in the dispersal of his remains as soon as Cronus died. They wanted to make sure the Temple of Pandora will never be found."

"Does Zeus have an idea?" He inquired again.

Athena frowned, choosing her reply carefully. "No, he does not. And that was what had us all worried."

"Oh." was all he could say to that.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

A few hours later, with a load more of hefty explanations from Athena, he bid her farewell. The goddess never even did give him a straight answer when he asked her why she called him her brother. He might as well head home and get some rest, he was starting to feel the fatigue from last night's mad adventure. Shaking his head as she vanished, Xander was on his way out of the museum and to back to the high school library to tell Giles what happened when he saw something that sparked his interest in another wing of the Grecian exhibit.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

_**Meanwhile, in a secret base right under NORAD HQ, Colorado:**_

"…. You all have your orders?" General Hammond asked once more after he briefed SG-1 on their next bizarre assignment. This next mission, however, won't be taking them through the alien transport ring that usually took them across the universe. An incredible archeological find out in the Sahara desert was the cause for their mission this time around. And though there was no way to cover up the fact that a humanoid skeleton over a hundred times its normal size was found in the desert after the news media blew the whistle minutes after its discovery. They would all try to see if they could get there first and check out signs for any Goa'uld artifacts inside.

"Yes Sir." Col. Jack O'Neill said as he acknowledged his superior officer. "All right campers, let's head up and move out. Next stop: the Sahara Desert. And Danny, better bring your box of tissues. It's going to be a long trip."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

_**Aboard Brittania Airways flight 9529, currently at 30,000 feet above the sea...**_

Lara Croft lounged in her seat inside first class on a jet bound for Morocco. She had to make a short stop there first as her conversation with Clairebourne said he would meet her there with his partner, Sadhi. Together, they would make the journey onwards.

Looking at her laptop, she received several communiques from well-trusted sources saying that a lot more people were heading in the same direction as she was. And one of them went so far as to warn her not to put too much faith on the world renowned Randall Clairebourne that will be accompanying her.

She smiled, responding an affirmative to the email. The race, it seemed, was on.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Back at the musem in Sunnydale: Xander couldn't believe it; in front of him was a fossilized skeletal imprint of a large vulture-like avian missing its head. And though the caption on the display read "…**_An as yet unidentified fossil of what seem to be an ancestor to today's vultures…." _**– he knew exactly what the thing used to be. He unknowingly clenched his fists in shock as another of Kratos's memories surfaced at the sight before him.

A Harpy, one of Ares's favored go-for birds.

And clutched in one of its fossilized claws, was an impression of a broken piece of a familiar looking set of chains.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

TBC...

A/N: Hello to you all! I hope this chapter is a little bit longer than the previous one. In any case, I'm going to park this story here for now until I hash out the next chapter. Work and real life is kinda crazy right now, frankly I am amazed I was able to get this much out, so pardon me if the next installment will come out slowly. I'm also going to try to get my PS2 back from my cousin and replay the God of War game. A huge spoiler for this fic is that almost all of it will revolve within the temple itself. And because of that, I have to replay the game to become familiar with the layout of the temple again. Thank you all for enjoying this work in progress that I write.

PS I know some of you have concerns as to his power level. And I know the folly of having someone too powerful ... you can't write jack-S#$! of an interesting story if he/she can beat just about anything that comes their way... **_unless _**they end up becoming the bad guy. There will be a reason for his power level being the way it is later on... and not even what he's got may not even be enough if I try to extend this fic series into the current Stargate SG1 season. And as for pairings, I am tempted to hold a poll... but a part of me wants to let the muse see what develops.

Again, thank you for reading ... as always, please let me know how I did with this chapter. Any suggestions, comments, etc. will be taken under advisement.


	4. Chapter 4

God(s) of War: Spartan Reborn

Began: 9-6-05

Status: ongoing.

Summary: Xander goes through some changes, finds some truth, meets new people, goes places, and starts screwing up some of the unhappy "Powers That Be" and their plans. Hears them cry "mommy". Oh yeah, he also gets a few weapons that scare the shit out of everyone. Generally, "almost" everything scripted after the Halloween episode flies out the window and gets rearranged Xander-style!

Disclaimers: I do not own anything except for the plot. All characters belong to their respective owners except some original characters, items, and mythologies created solely for this story.

//No Gods or Demigods were harmed in the making of this fan-fiction – at least not much, but I can't say about the demons though – they generally get their ass kicked all over the place//

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Previously

Xander couldn't believe it; in front of him was a fossilized skeletal imprint of a large vulture-like avian missing its head. And though the caption on the display read "…An as yet unidentified fossil of what seem to be an ancestor to today's vultures…." – he knew exactly what the thing used to be. He unknowingly clenched his fists in shock as another of Kratos's memories surfaced at the sight before him. A Harpy, one of Ares's favored go-for birds.

And clutched in one of its fossilized claws, was an impression of a broken piece of a familiar looking set of chains.

Memories of the weapon's former bearer and of battles past that were not his replayed themselves in his mind's eye. And all that Kratos had once been, and now is, come rushing to the forefront of his being.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

And now:

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Buffy was worried, it's been at least over three days since her Xander-shaped friend had lost consciousness and there was still no word from Giles. She sighed and walked towards Willow's house to pick her up; and then on to Giles's place to visit their friend.

So lost was she in her thoughts that she collided with the person going in the opposite direction. Said person was also walking in a daze ever since vacating the museum. So it was that both fell down hard at the impact with matching exclamations of surprise and pain.

"Xander?" She said uncertainly, her eyes going wide at the changes to her friend. Then her eyes narrowed, he was also giving out enough of an aura of power that she was starting to sense him a little on her slayer-sense.

"Xander?" she said again, but this time with an edge to it.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Xander, for his part, was a little shocked at literally bumping into Buffy. He was inwardly worried as he somehow knew he was slightly pinging off on her slayer sense – her close proximity was doing the same thing to his mystic senses. And when she called to him a second time with an edge to her voice, he knew he'd better come up with something fast.

"Uh, hi Buffy." He said lamely as her eyes narrowed even more at the deeper timbre of his voice. "How you been?"

Seeing as she wasn't answering him, he decided to say the one thing that would prove who he was to her.

"Can I have you?" He said, which made her smile a bit at that memory of their first meeting.

"Is it really you?" She asked hesitantly, not trusting her slayer sense to what her mind and heart was saying. That it really was her friend in front of her. "My god, what happened to you?" She asked, while a small part of her said "Me like!" as she saw the way his overly large shirt was molding to his newly developed physique as a strong breeze blew past them.

Xander sighed in relief as her "kill you" look softened to less than mild acceptance. He was however confused at the strange emotions showing on her face. He almost did a double take as smelled a small amount of lust on her. This was not the time, he told himself. Besides, he wasn't thinking of her in that way anymore after the effects of his recent possession.

Frankly, Kratos's memories taught him more than enough about the females of the human persuasion on one point of view than he'd rather think about. Thus, his teenaged level of hormones weren't leading him on as much as it was before.

He wondered if that was a good thing or a bad one. Maybe he didn't want to know.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

As they made their way silently towards Willow's home, Xander felt Buffy give him a sideways glance from time to time. Either those glances were due to curiosity or due to his giving off a ping on her slayer sense, he paid it no heed. His own thoughts kept returning back to the last thing he saw in the museum.

He could have sworn that the fossilized impression of what that dead Harpy was clutching was part of the Blades of Chaos! The very sight of it made his forearms sting at the memory of how Ares ripped those chains out of Kratos during the final battle. He internally winced at how the Spartan screamed as the weapons were torn out of him and sent elsewhere. And it looked as if the chains were sent to a place of hiding as a last request from a dying god to his pets.

But where was it now? And further more, is someone – or something using it?

His thoughts returned to the present as they neared his childhood friend's house. Seeing that Willow was already outside waiting for them, he opened his mouth to call out to her, only to be tackled to the ground by a red blur before he even got a word out.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

At first Willow wondered who was the tall, well-built, man that was following Buffy towards her house when the man's features came into focus; with a gasp of surprise, she flew out of her house and launched herself towards the young man, sending both of them down towards the lawn.

Xander, in spite of his newfound abilities, still felt the pressure of "little" Willow's crushing embrace as a constant stream of words came out from the young woman trying to hug the life out of him.

He might as well savor the moment and what little time he had left with his friends. He had a feeling he would probably be gone for quite a while. He took her hand in his as he led them towards Willow's home, readying himself for the questions that would surely come hard and fast.

Little did he realize that his time with them is coming to an abrupt end.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Outside of time and space, a spectral hand moved a translucent silver thread for a just a microscopic "inch". Noting with a sad smile, that some events would play out the way it was supposed to be – with some minor adjustments. After all, the being was not supposed to be seen favoring a "side" in an eternal struggle for free will.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

An hour later, Xander stormed out of his former friend's home in a cloud of anger and betrayal. How dare they expect him to stay in the sidelines! And even though chaos magic started the whole mess, the deal with Pandora's Box wasn't part of it. The fact that his soul really did travel back in time still boggled him, even after the somewhat lengthy explanation from Athena.

"_The soul," He remembered the goddess say, "In its purest form, is unfettered by machinations such as fate, time, and space." _

The way he understood it from the goddess's lecture was that once the soul is freed from the confines of the body, it would, in essence, be privy to just about anything. Some sort of "enlightenment" – the only price to pay is that you would lose such knowledge if the soul were to return to mortality, be it re-birth in re-incarnation or something else entirely.

And it also came down to choices you make along the way.

Unfortunately, none of his two so-called friends saw that. Buffy herself was against the very idea that Xander can use his new gifts to help, citing that it was her duty alone. And the moment Willow sided with the Slayer in some misunderstood concern for his well-being, a full blown argument erupted.

By the gods, were those two dense, Xander thought to himself as he started to calm down. In any case, he shouldn't have really blown up as well because he knew more than they do, exactly what had happened to him. Shaking his head in resignation that his friends will not be able to understand or cope with what he went through at present, he headed back to Giles for an update. He could mope later, the temple and whatever drew him inside had to come first.

He shuddered at the thought if whatever it was still in there should ever fall into the wrong hands. Maybe Athena's exaggerated "boom" wasn't much of an exaggeration at all if one thought about it.

His long, even strides suddenly turned into a flat-out run towards Giles's apartment, his argument with Buffy and Willow momentarily forgotten as a sense of urgency hit him.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Back at the Watcher's abode, plans were being finalized to help Xander move forward in his journey. Giles quickly jotted some information down as the Admiral on the other line rattled off instructions, pausing only to give the Watcher enough time to catch up.

So it was quite understandable when he started violently when the front door of his abode burst inwards to herald a very perturbed Alexander Harris.

After muttering a hasty good-bye to his friend, Giles turned his attention the young man he almost thought of as a son.

"My word," His eyes widened at the look of intense unease within the mercurial pools that now made up the young man's eyes. "What seems to be the matter?"

When Xander explained his visit to the museum and the events that followed afterwards, the anxiety the young man was feeling was transferred to the Watcher. Frowning; while the foreboding the goddess Athena was nothing to take light, the actions of his two other charges disappointed him. They of all people should have known that nothing would keep the young man away from the fight. Not where his friends – no, his family – was concerned. But while he understood their points of view, it all came down to one thing.

"I have great faith in you, Xander, to do what is right." Giles said aloud, "While I share some of their reservations about all this, I know you are not the fool others may think you are. And it seems to me as if fate or destiny may be shaping you to become your namesake: the Protector of man."

Xander looked at the man he would gladly wish call as his true father with relief and gratitude. No one had ever said those words to him in such a manner, that it pained him for what would happen in the coming days. Grabbing the elder man in a warrior's handshake, right arms grasped as a sign of deep respect, he also turned it into a hug. No words available to express his gratitude.

Xander pulled back, his thoughts on the current issue at hand. "Any word on the road trip?" The young man asked.

"Ah, yes." Giles said as he tore off a piece of paper from a nearby legal pad and offered it to the young man. "Admiral Sandecker, once understanding the severity of the situation our so-called secret world is brewing, he managed to finagle the use of one of the military's Blackbirds to get you there."

At Xander's raised eyebrow, Giles continued. "The pilot's official mission will be to get detailed photographs from the air concerning the area where the Titan's corpse was found. Unofficially and totally out of the books is that you will be hitching a ride to parachute in."

At that, the other teen's eyebrow also rose. "What's the catch?"

"You're not the only one going in there." Giles confirmed Xander's suspicion. "They reportedly lost a recon team in there a day after the discovery. A supposed rescue team, with the designation "SG-1" are on their way. Some treasure hunters are sure to be drawn into the mix as well. Not to mention my niece."

"Excuse me,." Xander cut in, watching as the older man began wiping his glasses at the mere mention of his niece. "Niece?"

"Yes," Giles said; a hint of pride showing in his voice. "She has had a rather unusual upbringing, you could say."

Xander had to laugh at that. If his niece was anything like Giles in his youth, the girl would no doubt be quite the handful. He then mentally stumbled as he reviewed the man's earlier comment and tried not to look a bit surprised.

"What the hell is she doing over there, G?" Xander asked, surprise lacing his words, and concern for the Watcher's niece. "The dangers in there alone got those military recon team killed. Hell G, does she even have back-up?"

"She is quite stubborn when she puts her mind on something, and she most assuredly works on her on own." Giles confessed, wishing he could go himself without arousing the suspicions of the council and his other charges. "But I implore you; should you run into her, please keep an eye out, will you?" He then handed him the most recent picture of his niece, breathing a sigh of relief at the young man's nod.

"She is widely known in the archeological world," Giles said with obvious pride. "The best in her field. However, she is also known as the Tomb Raider in that world's nastier side."

Xander said nothing as his eyes were glued to the photograph of one of most beautiful woman he had ever seen. His silvery eyes raking the features, committing it to memory, the primal part of him vowed that no harm shall come to her if he could help it.

The Watcher tried to hide a smirk as he noticed the intensity of the young man's gaze as he hadn't moved from his perusal of his niece's picture. It seems, while not even present and even without trying, his beloved niece had once again, attracted another young man with her allure.

He briefly wondered what sort of mayhem would occur once the two would meet. The Ripper part of him toyed with the notion they would either kill each other, or worse; marry each other – for two people with such explosive personalities to meet, the outcome would be amusingly uncertain.

Mutually Assured Destruction of all things around them, the Ripper persona within him guffawed at the thought.

"Time to get some sleep." The Watcher advised, trying his level best not to laugh as Xander reluctantly placed the photograph back down on the table Giles had retrieved it from earlier. "We leave before the first light of dawn to sneak you onto the base and aboard the blackbird."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Elsewhere:

A lone figure stepped off the plane that landed on a privately owned airstrip near Istanbul for a quick stop for a few hours before moving on. The man's weathered face mildly squinted at the harsh glare of the mid-day sun.

How long has it been? He asked himself, as he set foot on one of the world's older places. No matter how many things changed, some of the basics stay the same. He took a piece of paper accompanied with a two small wallet sized photos from his right breast pocket. The first was that of a young woman, a small smile creasing his features as he remembered her childhood days, bouncing on Lord Croft's lap as he fondly showed off her grand daughter.

The small smile turned into a large smirk at how that child turned out to be quite the hellion she is today as a renowned archeologist/Tomb Raider. But then, who was he to argue as he did the same in his own youth? Granted, he tended to stay in the sidelines now that his appearance would cause too many questions as to how he never aged. He also never returned to his old haunts without the perfect disguise as some of his more "famous" - or rather "infamous" - exploits still had left an its mark in this part of the world.

Unfortunately, his smile turned into a scowl as he glanced at the second photo; scumbags like Randall Clairebourne and Sadhi made him crawl out from under his self-imposed public exile. No way were those two going to turn Lara into a statistic to further their goals while he was around. He could only hope he wasn't too late. From his last communiqué with Isaac, his chief intelligence gatherer; Lara Croft's flight should be arriving within twenty four hours from now. So he had to get ready and into position, and as good as his people were; he wanted to do this personally, he owed Old man Croft that much.

Patting the hidden compartment of his carryon luggage, he fervently wished for his old Webbley than the customized .357 magnum his friend, Isaac, gave him. The magnum came close to his favored style of gunplay, though. The mystic sword he brought with him was a new addition to his repertoire, though, gifted to him after the "incident". And the people in customs would never find it, with it being hidden in subspace to appear only at his beck and call.

He unconsciously tugged at the fake wig he wore as he searched for a ride to the hotel to meet his contact, again wishing it was his old favorite, beat-up hat. Old habits and memories don't ever die even when you learn something new, he thought upon reflection. A small, but recognizable devil-may-care grin graced his features as he walked down familiar streets as a part of him reawakened to the call of adventure.

Once more into the breach, my friend…

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TBC………

Author's note: Thank you all for waiting, and I am very sorry for the long overdue chapter, I said it before, I don't have a regular PC to upload all my chapters – and all my stuff are written on a large notebook in a barely legible scrawl before I can even type it. And real life can be a pain sometimes when you don't have the time to write and other things get in the way – like being only able to use the web library for only an hour a day at a time to finish typing, spell-checking, and uploading the thing. And there is also another reason behind the delay, I wanted to witness firsthand how the new game will go so I know where to add it to my story and what changes can I make to it to fit the plot I am brewing.

Trust me, this fic is NOT over by a long shot. And I won't give up on it. No matter how long it may take, I will finish it. If anyone would like to add or help, I am more than willing to share the duties.

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